


"Stay with Me": A Plead

by deebainwonderland



Series: Irondad Whumptober [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Guilty Peter Parker, Hurt Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Violence, whumptober2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-12-20 23:04:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21064673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deebainwonderland/pseuds/deebainwonderland
Summary: Peter crouched in the mouth of the alley, covered in blood that was not his own. This was never supposed to happen again.#whumptober2019 #no.17 #staywithme





	"Stay with Me": A Plead

Shit. Shit! This couldn’t be happening. Not again. 

“Stay with me,” Peter begged, hand clenching around the man’s gaping chest wound. Blood spurted out from in between fingers, hitting him in the face. He nearly gagged, spitting out a mix of blood and spit. “Stay with me!”

The man stared up at him with wide, glazed eyes. He tried to speak but only succeed in gurgling up more blood. 

“Don’t talk!” cried Peter, hating himself for the tears stinging in his eyes. “You’ll be fine!”

This wasn't supposed to happen again. He was Spider-Man now. He was supposed to get here before anyone had the chance to bleed out in an alley. But today, he wasn’t Spider-Man. Today, he was simply one of the hundreds of people walking the streets when the man stumbled into the street from an alley on his left, hands clutching his chest where a jagged knife had found a home. 

Probably a botched mugging. This was New York, after all, these things happened. But Peter Parker wasn’t supposed to be too late anymore. 

He could see the small crowd around them out of the corner of his eye, could hear an older woman on his left on the phone with a 911 operator. 

None of that really mattered. All that mattered was that Peter Parker was sitting next to a dying man on the streets of New York. _ Again _. 

Then, suddenly, he was being pulled away from the prone man, a paramedic pushing him aside, calling over his shoulder that it was all fine. Peter allowed the hands on his shoulders to pull him up and away.

Turning his head around, he saw the women who called 911. “Are you alright young man?” she asked, concern coloring her face. Her eyes kept flicking between Peter and the bloodied man being hauled up onto a gurney. 

It took Peter a long moment to reply. “Yes, I… I’m fine. Thank you.”

Wrenching himself away, Peter stumbled away from the crowd. He didn't want to talk to the police or the other bystanders. He just wanted to wash all the damn blood off. 

Fingers trembling, Peter pulled out his phone and punched a number on the speed dial.

There was a long pause and then - “Happy? Can you come get me?” 

Xx 

“Jesus Christ, kid,” Tony breathed as he crossed the room to the elevator at a half-run. 

“I’m fine,” Peter said and winced. His voice sounded like he’d swallowed a handful of gravel. “It’s not my blood. I was just a bystander, I wasn’t even Spider-Man. There was nothing I couldn't do, I couldn’t even help-.”

He was cut off as Tony reached him and cupped his face in his hands. Tony’s eyes were wide with panic as they swung from Peter to Happy and back again. 

Happy walked in behind the kid and gently pulled Peter’s jacket off, folding the blood-soaked item over his arm. “He’s fine, boss. Not his blood. The kid’s just a little freaked out.”

Ridiculously, Peter had to choke down a laugh that was threatening to crawl up his throat. Talk about an understatement. 

Tony seemed to have barely heard them. He stood frozen, staring at the blood on his kid’s neck. Happy slapped a hand on the man’s back, raising him from his stupor. “Maybe you should go help the kid clean up, Boss.”

_ Get a fucking grip, Stark _. Tony slipped an arm around Peter’s back and the boy sagged against him. “Too right, Haps. Come on kid, let’s go get you cleaned up.” 

Peter allowed himself to be led down the hall. He expected Tony to bring him into one of the first bathrooms but Tony gently maneuvered him down until they reached his and Pepper’s bedroom. From there, Tony guided him into the master bathroom. 

“Come on Pete, up,” Tony said softly, maneuvering him up to sit on the counter next to the sink. He grabbed a washcloth and turned the water on. Making sure it was warm, he ran the cloth under the sink and wrung it out. Glancing over at his charge, Tony was disturbed to see Peter seemed barely aware of what was happening. The boy had a far-off look in his eyes and his hands were trembling. 

Tony set the cloth down and reached for Peter’s face again. “You with me, bud?”

Peter blinked at him and then slowly nodded. Only mildly reassured, Tony grasped the bottom of Peter’s blood-soaked shirt and lifted it over his head. 

That seemed to draw Peter out of his fog. “It’s ok, Mr. Stark,” he said, reaching for the cloth. 

Tony batted his hand away gently. “Let me take care of you, Pete. I want to. Please.” 

Dropping his arm back to his side, Peter allowed Tony to begin to wash the dried blood off. He worked in silence for several moments, eyes flicking back and forth between his task and the boy’s face. God, in this moment, Peter looked younger than he ever had before. 

Peter’s voice finally broke the silence. “I don’t think a person can survive this much blood loss.”

Tony winced as he scrubbed carefully along the boy’s neck. “You don’t know that for sure.” 

“I’ve seen it before.” 

“Shit, kid,” Tony wheezed, his voice strained. He dropped to his knees, placing his hands on the boy’s own knees and stared up into his face. “This was not your fault, Pete. That wasn’t your fault and neither is this.”

The laugh that erupted from Peter surprised them both. “I’m Spider-Man now,” he snarled, jumping down from the counter and attempting to push past his mentor. “This isn’t supposed to happen anymore!” 

Tony was on his feet again in an instant and caught Peter’s arm. “Pete, please, stop. Let me help you.” 

“I don’t need your help,” Peter snapped, trying to wrench his arm away. “I am perfectly capable of cleaning myself.” 

Tony held up his hands in surrender. As suddenly as it came, the anger drained from Peter and he slumped back against the doorframe. “Shit.” 

Tony was there in an instant. “It’s ok, Pete. Come one. Please.” 

Leaning back against the counter, Peter allowed Tony to continue to scrub. After several more long minutes, Tony was satisfied with his work. He led Peter back out into the bedroom and bundled him up in an old sweatshirt. Peter vaguely noted that MIT was emblazoned on the front. 

He sat in the middle of Tony and Pepper’s gigantic bed with Tony at his side, worried eyes still upon him and one hand rubbing gentle circles into his back. 

“Did he die?”

Tony winced at the question. “We don’t know yet, kid. He’s still in surgery. But you did help him. Peter, I swear you did.” 

Peter shook his head. “It’s so much worse when I’m just myself. I wasn’t a hero today, I was the unlucky bystander. Again.”

A tear trickled out of the corner of his eye and Tony made a wounded noise. “Oh, kid, oh no, please don’t cry.” 

“Mr. Stark I never wanted to be that person again,” Peter gasped, burying his face in his hands as his shoulder shook. 

Tony swore under his breath and shifted on the bed, swinging a leg around so he was behind Peter and could pull the boy against him. Peter went willingly, burying his head in the man’s chest as he began to cry in earnest. 

Tucking Peter’s head under his chin, Tony rubbed the back of his neck comfortingly. “We can’t always be in the right place at the right time, Pete,” he said softly, “No one could. We can only do the best that we can. And that is what you did today. The best that you could. And I'm so damn proud.” 

For this moment at least, Peter allowed himself to simply be a child and curl up against an adult who loved and protected him. Today, he was simply a child who had witnessed something truly terrible and had done everything in his small power to help.

Peter lay in the arms of his mentor and prayed that it had been enough. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a kudo and/or comment if you enjoyed! Much more to come.


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